MY BEST FRIEND'S EARL

A straitlaced earl is undone by an unruly bookseller.

For a small bookshop, Martin House is getting a lot of attention, thanks to Betsy and Constance, the lovely twin daughters of the family that owns it. Now Constance has left her betrothed at the altar, and though she’s trying to avoid further gossip, when her friend Althea Thompson asks for help breaking her own engagement, Constance can’t say no. Oliver Vincent, Earl of Southwyn, suspects Althea isn’t interested in him, but feels he must marry her anyway to preserve their families’ neighboring estates. He seems to be a kind man, but that doesn’t stop Constance from coming up with a plan to drive him away from Althea, which seems easy enough given that he’s notoriously disciplined and unemotional and thus easy to irritate. But as Constance gets to know Oliver better, she keeps experiencing an inconvenient “fizzy pop of attraction,” which is second only to the intense distraction she’s become to him since he first noticed the “teacup-size tempest” around town. After a slow burn, they do finally explore their mutual attraction, but she’s held back by her many insecurities and he’s worried about the future of the community that depends on his estate, so their scorching attachment may need to be permanently shelved. Fittingly for a romance set in a bookshop that does a brisk business in romantic novels, the charming story incorporates a wide range of beloved tropes, including an only-one-bed scene and a virgin hero. The fast-moving plot also includes cameos from the first book in the series, Good Duke Gone Wild (2024), and can be confusing at first, but after a few chapters the book can be read as a standalone. The story is especially strong when it addresses what Constance feels are her many failings; readers will quickly realize they’re actually symptoms of ADHD, which is later confirmed in an author’s note. Despite the classic Regency setting, the language is often surprisingly modern, but fans of bold heroines won’t mind at all.

A traditional Regency story enlivened by a well-drawn neurodiverse heroine.